Business Traveler, April 2018

April 2018 n 19 Visit businesstravelerusa com Take Offs Landings n and Vueling are in the process of outfitting their aircraft with the new technology with the goal of having 90 percent of its short haul fleet complete by early 2019 The EAN system promises to deliver speeds of over 50GB per second offering reliable broadband service in the air that matches what passengers have come to expect on the ground After years of frustrating delay the project is tentatively set for a June rollout although no date has actually been announced for the first fully operational flights The Long Winding Road The search for inflight connectivity reliability and speed has been a long and arduous one As ground based systems have become faster and cheaper the expectation on the part of consumers is that WiFi connectivity will simply be everywhere But the challenges of technology standardization and cost at 35000 feet have proven to be more daunting However the initiatives appear to be bearing fruit Otto Gergye Asia Pacific VP at Inmarsat likens the adoption of inflight WiFi to fully flat beds noting that development really wasnt considered essential by consumers until almost every airline had them When it was only one flight it wasnt really a purchase decision But when it was on all flights people would choose to fly on that airline because theyre guaranteed a flat bed Its kind of the same with WiFi Indeed the tide appears to be moving in that direction A new study by the London School of Economics in collaboration with Inmarsat estimates that inflight connectivity will be a market worth 130 billion by 2035 In real terms the analysis found on average passengers will become 4 more valuable to airlines through ancilAIRLINE NOTES n Norwegian Plans Double to Dublin Norwegian has announced plans to double the frequency of its flights between Dublin and Stewart International airport beginning April 26 The twice daily service will now include a new morning departure from Dublin Stewart International airport is located 60 miles north of Manhattan with direct shuttle bus service to New York City timed to meet Norwegians flight arrivals In addition the airline has increased transatlantic services from Shannon with flights to Providence doubling to four times weekly and those to Stewart International increasing from two to three flights per week Visit norwegian com n Finnair Extends Seasonal Routes to Chicago and San Francisco oneworld alliance member Finnair is extending its seasonal routes to Chicago and San Francisco The Helsinki Chicago route begins April 19 and is now extended to Dec 3 The Helsinki San Francisco route will launch May 3 and run through Dec 5 Visit finnair com n Air China Launches Beijing Copenhagen Service Air China will begin nonstop flights between Beijing and Copenhagen beginning May 30 The service operates four times per week on Mondays Wednesdays Fridays and Sundays All flights use the Airbus 330 200 Visit airchina com n Qatar Airways Announces Major Network Expansion Qatar Airways has announced it will add 16 new destinations to its 2018 19 schedule Among the new destinations the carrier plans direct service to Luxembourg London Gatwick and Cardiff in the UK Lisbon Portugal Da Nang Vietnam Bodrum Antalya and Hatay in Turkey Mykonos and Thessaloniki in Greece and Málaga Spain In addition services to Warsaw Hanoi Ho Chi Minh City Prague and Kiev will increase to a twice daily frequency while services to Madrid Barcelona and the Maldives will increase to three times daily Visit qatarairways com

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